The first Irish celebrity has reportedly been confirmed for Dancing With The Stars

Big Brother star Hughie Maughan will reportedly star in the new RTÉ show Dancing With The Stars.

It's believed RTÉ has finally chosen the 11 celebrities who will take part in the show after conducting auditions. According to The Sun, Hughie is the first to be officially confirmed with the Dublin native spotted in training already. Apparently the BBC, who owns the format for the show, had a say on the final celebrities selected. A source said:

”The BBC knew Hughie from UK Big Brother unlike many of the Irish celebs RTE shortlisted for Dancing With The Stars. The BBC thought Hughie would be perfect.”

They added:

"Doing Big Brother in the UK allowed Hughie to break down prejudice against Travellers and gay people in Britain. Appearing on Dancing With The Stars on RTE will help him do the same in Ireland. But Hughie wants to win.”

Hughie's fiancé, Ryan Ruckledge, who he met on Big Brother, fueled speculation last month that Hughie would be taking part in the show when he tweeted about Hughie having something lined up.

So proud of my @hughie_maughan and what he has lined up for the future, couldn't be anymore prouder if I tried, love you so much ♥️♥️

— Ryan Ruckledge (@ryruckledge) October 19, 2016

Hughie is the only celebrity to be named for now but it's thought that Nicky Byrne will be signed up to present the show when it begins in January. Nicky was named a few months back, along with Vogue Williams, but after she ruled herself out recently all eyes are on Nicky. The show will begin on January 8th on RTÉ One and will run for 12 weeks.